Viewed across the spring fields this St. Jacobs area Mennonite farmhouse looks almost like a small village with so many small buildings cobbled together.

This farmhouse is across the road from the vast Home Hardware warehouses. I was attracted by these buildings that have not yet been "modernized". The patches of so many colours put me in mind of a quilt.

On a muddy spring day, I found these buggies parked at a Mennonite farm west of Linwood.

The leather harness creaks as this mismatched team slowly makes its way up and down the field. On this beautiful autumn day only the farmer and his dog are there to see their furrow-making progress. The stone farmhouse in the background was built by another farmer many generations ago.

Although the horses occupy only a small part of the painting, the focus of this piece is the team. I was constantly aware of tightening the contrasts on the horses while softening down the background scenery.

I was drawn to the striking contrasts in black and white against the green field in this view of a ploughing team near Linwood.

I spend a good deal of time driving the roads of Mennonite country just hoping that I will see something that attracts me. I never know if an item will make a painting on its own or will only be a secondary player in a larger work. Keeping all these photos filed properly is a challenge.

A low home-made bridge has been built across the Conestogo River at Hawkesville to shorten a long horse-drawn route through the village.

This bridge is only one of three bridges built by the Old Order Mennonites over the Conestogo River. The genius of these constructions is that they are built low enough that the ice breaking up in spring flows over the bridge and does not threaten the abutments. These bridges reduce travel time by a great deal for those who travel by horse and buggy.